Broken
by Holy Spirits
Summary: Danny finds out Jazz is not all that she seems.
1. Chapter 1

Broken

_No, no she just fell down the steps again she's okay just a little bruised is all._

It was something that always slipped past Danny's attention.

It was always the little things about his sixteen year old sister he couldn't quite understand; their parents labeled her accident prone since she was young. Despite her intelligence she sure was stupid enough to fall down a flight of stairs, haphazardly burn her fingers on the stove, to the puncture wounds she received when patching her beloved Bearbert.

Until he started to notice the truth behind her reasons for doing this.

Jazz was just so good at concealing it like whenever she flashed a smile and reassured him she was fine and tell him it was nothing to worry about and then things would continue as they normally would.

Danny would go back to being an oblivious fourteen year old; he'd deliberately go out of his way to avoid his sister until the next accident and he'd believe Jazz's lies again.

_It didn't hurt, it didn't at all, stop worrying about me, Danny._

* * *

There was something Danny always did notice when he entered his sister's bedroom, the box of bandages that always sat on her desk. It was always there; the same generic box of band-aids she always used to cover up her cuts. Until the day he rummaged inside his sister's desk to find a pen that worked; he wasn't curious about the box of bandages until he opened the drawer.

He found a box, an inconspicuous black box aside from the pen he found inside the drawer. He ignored it in favor of tearing open the lid and the discovery of his action terrified him and what he learnt.

Jazz ran inside her bedroom where she found Danny whose complexion became pale upon making eye contact with his elder sister.

"Danny what are you doing," she asked.

Danny managed to place the box back in the drawer and decided to excuse himself for his intrusion. "nothing, Jazz I thought I needed something, but it turns out I can't find the thing," he said, placing his arms behind his back. "nothing at all." he promptly left the room taking care to shut the door behind himself.

He returned to his own bedroom where he was alone with his thoughts. The razor blades he found out his sister owned had shaken him and here he was contemplating his hypocritical sister.

Jazz who treated him like a child, who excelled in her studies and studied psychology was only faking.

She was just as much of a faker as he was and took him all the years to realize it.

What great way to repay Jazz and her support when she accepted he was Phantom and after all this time.

Who would've guessed after all this time?

Who could have?

"Jazz, your such an idiot," he said to himself through clenched teeth. "such a little idiot." he soon felt the stinging of hot tears trickle down his cheeks.


	2. Chapter 2

Danny never noticed before when his sister's eyes were glassy. Or when he caught Jazz when her mind was in a fog; she didn't have any friends he knew of. She never spoke about them, she never mentioned her friends at all.

She never socialized like a normal person except for when she got all preachy or decided to engage in psychoanalyzing other people. She was trying to make breakthroughs as she told him whenever he asked.

Yeah, Jazz breakthroughs, try helping people who are just as messed up as you are.

Try fixing them with words and put up that clever ruse you use so well while you're on your way to a mental breakdown yourself. It's sweet about how supportive Jazz is with the collective of freshmen, juniors, sophomores, and seniors she put so much energy into helping them.

It's sweet Jazz, it really was, but Danny realized just how much energy she was expending and it was about time Jazz started worrying about herself.

His sister was breaking, he wasn't sure about the reason why, but whatever the answer was, it was killing her from the inside out.

* * *

The same day Danny walked back into his sister's bedroom where he remained invisible for the duration of the night observing her.

He sat on the floor watching Jazz with watery blue eyes, just to see what she would do, Jazz completed her homework assignments; she finished before two in the morning and as he waited for her to open the drawer of her desk she didn't.

His eyes swiveled to Jazz's bed where she fell face first into her pillow, threw the blanket over her body, then curled herself into a tight ball, and eventually cried herself to sleep.

It was the soft strangled sobs Danny heard that made him wonder why?

Why wasn't she telling anyone about this?

How come?


	3. Chapter 3

Breakfast the next morning felt strained; their parents weren't present at the kitchen just at the moment.

Only Danny had one motive in mind: how to approach his elder sister. Jazz was smart, she was a smart girl who concealed her feelings very well. Pretending to be happy was of of those unexpected talents he had to give her some credit. Unlike Danny who wore his feelings on his sleeve he wasn't quite sure how to tell his sister exactly what he knew about her.

Trade for trade, right?

Jazz hid the information about what she knew when he was part ghost; and now that he exposed her dirty little secret it was fair, it was fair wasn't it? She was harboring suicidal tendencies, probably ideation too, he didn't even trust her with a butter knife let alone a spork. Convincing his sister to eat cereal was a tough task considering she was going to go to the trouble of using the stove again.

Besides her hands weren't even in any condition to be near an open flame. Both of her hands were still healing from second degree burns; They were swathed with gauze, gauze he saw to personally change himself. Of course his sister questioned his eager anticipation, he never usually dragged himself out of bed at six in the morning unless it was an emergency.

Danny told her he changed his mind. (she was his emergency)

As much time Jazz spent treating his injuries it felt like a welcome change of pace.

First-aid was something he rarely practiced on other people, of course it was his pleasure. Now here he was sitting in an apprehensive silence wondering how to break the news to Jazz. The words, well, they never came to his mind, he mind was drawing blanks, he couldn't tell her even if he tried.

He let Jazz drive herself to school; he had faith she wouldn't cause an accident on purpose now he was beginning to sound paranoid. Think about the wreckage, then there's the deductible, premiums would probably skyrocket, mom and dad would have a conniption. They'd kill her, probably ground her for months, this was turning out to be a stupid daydream.

Who did he think he was kidding?

Danny stood up from his chair, slung his backpack over his shoulders, then turned ghost.

"I'm coming, Jazz!" he screamed, as he burst the door of Fenton Works open to chase after the RV that was a speck upon the horizon.

Danny Phantom self-appointed guardian was at his sister's service.


	4. Chapter 4

She was in the middle of AP English class when she began thinking.

Jazz wasn't incredibly close to her younger brother like she wanted to be.

Just because they shared a secret together didn't mean much to him. Yet when she recounted Danny carrying the first-aid kit to her bedroom; the one she painstakingly put together for his use only this morning.

When she woke up in a groggy stupor wondering the reason why? When Danny was so exhausted from school and protecting their hometown Amity Park and he should've been resting instead of tending to her own wounds instead.

She felt guilty, obviously, these injuries she no doubt self-inflicted upon herself.

She remembered Danny's smile, it was genuine, he was happy to help and she finally realized how aware Danny was she finally existed. Of course it hurt to move her fingers, but it wasn't that bad, she insisted it wasn't.

By comparison Danny was the one to worry about; low grade point averages and the excuses she constantly makes up for Mr. Lancer and their parents to spare him some time to finish homework assignments.

He was the one, he was a giver, he sacrifices his time and energy to help the problems the ghosts cause and the nearly the whole community of Amity Park despises him. They spit on him and his good nature as a ghost and as the only one who's trying to do a damned thing around this place he's the one. He's the one who needs the help and Jazz was convinced that her little brother Danny. That sweet innocent bright blue eyed kid needed more attention than he was letting on.

"Jasmine, please answer question fifteen marked on your worksheet for us," Mr. Lancer said, interrupting Jazz's thoughts.

Jazz lifted her head up to stare at her teacher before she had a chance to tell him the lunch bell rang unceremoniously.

Lancer sighed. "class dismissed," he said, watching his students file out the door.

…

Jazz only had a bottle of orange juice to drink since she felt a little light headed.

She'd been skipping lunch and dinners a lot lately; since she was always alone she spent it in the library.

Whether it the public library or their school.

She rarely got to spend time sharing meals with her brother and besides when he ate it was always in his bedroom or he'd eat out with his friends and their family.

In lieu it made for excellent time to finish the essays and math assignments that were due the next day; the teachers were always assigning too much homework and she wasn't willing to come into class empty handed.

The faculty always expected a lot from her...she kind of wished they didn't. At least she wouldn't feel like keeling over, Jazz winced when she placed her hand to her forehead and felt warm. The library was air conditioned, she attributed her body heat rising nerves.

She wasn't ill.

Jazz opened her English book ignoring her slight fever she had work to do.


End file.
